French Polynesia’s president Edouard Fritch has told the French foreign minister that he would like to put his territory at the centre of debates during the COP21 climate change conference in December. Fritch met Laurent Fabius in Paris for talks which reportedly covered French Polynesia’s ambitions to develop renewable energy sources. He has also thanked Fabius for supporting French Polynesia to be able to host a meeting of the Polynesian Leaders Group in Papeete in July. The group has 8 members, including 3 territories that are on the UN decolonization list. They are American Samoa, Tokelau and French Polynesia, which was returned to the list two years ago. A French-sponsored meeting of 15 Pacific countries and territories was held in New Caledonia two weeks ago which called on the international community to launch a revolution to deal with climate change. The group issued the so-called Lifou Declaration, exhorting the international community to heed the Pacific’s proposals and to give better access to funds to mitigate climate change. It said the islands feel the full force of climate change although they account for only 0.03 percent of global carbon emissions. Originally from Radio New Zealand...

French Polynesia’s president Edouard Fritch has told the French foreign minister that he would like to put his territory at the centre of debates during the COP21 climate change conference in December. Fritch met Laurent Fabius in Paris for talks which reportedly covered French Polynesia’s ambitions to develop renewable energy sources. He has also thanked Fabius for supporting French Polynesia to be able to host a meeting...